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Tuesday, May 17, 2016

7-ELEVEN

As I drove around doing errands, my mind wandered from thought to thought.

My to-do lists.

What to cook for dinner.

Things to remember.And then I saw it.Another one. A new one, which had just been built.A brand spanking new … 7- ELEVEN store.

My daughter and my husband like to play this game in the car called “7-Eleven”. It’s basically just spot the 7-Eleven store and the person who spots the most during the trip is the winner or the game can be carried on from one trip to another, depending on what they decide {sigh}.It drives me crazy because I might be mid-sentence, saying something really important {a-hem} when all of a sudden “7-Eleven!” erupts, followed by lots of excitable screaming and yelling about who’s winning and who saw it first … yadda-yadda … hence, my important sentence gets lost. You get the picture.But, in case you’re wondering how I could let this simple game drive me crazy, I just want to point out that in Thailand, there are over eight thousand

7-Eleven stores! Yep! As Suzy Strutner said in the Chiangmai Times,

"Your life in general comes from 7-Eleven. It's where you pay your bills.

And re-load your phone. And shop for groceries.

And most importantly, it's where you get toasties.

7-Eleven IS LIFE."

We used to pass at least 10 just on the way to school. You might understand now how it might, kind-of, just a little bit, get annoying after a while {nod here}.

And then my thoughts trail away to other things. Things I’ve been reading.

Strangely enough an article from Family Education talks about what to expect in the second grade, and helping your child aged 7-11 to successfully face challenges that the school year may bring. My youngest is now 7 and I am trying to think ahead and be prepared (as much as possible) in relation to the social and emotional issues that this age group generally face.And then my mind races once more, this time to the ‘other’ kids in this age group, the ones who don’t have a mum or dad reading up on all the latest educational advice. Whose mums or dads never had the chance to learn to read. Whose parents are no longer alive. Whose parents, for whatever reason, couldn’t protect them. This is the group we came here to help: the orphans and the little ones who cannot fight for themselves.And while I sit in my car noticing the 8001st

7-Eleven to be built, I think of the many little 7-11 year olds who still need rescuing.

At ZOE Children’s Homes we have at least ten children who fall into this age group who have been rescued and are now safe in the care of a new family. [There are also many children who are both younger and older than this]. The team at ZOE not only works hard to prevent child trafficking from occurring, but we will intervene when a child is in danger of being sold or has been sold into prostitution or slavery. But it doesn’t finish there, we commit to caring for these children from then on. Did you know that there are more than 58,000

7-ELEVEN outlets worldwide? You see them too.As you drive home from work. As you race to pick up your kids from school. As you rush to that meeting. As you dash out to go to the gym.On your way to church.But what can you possibly do? Right?

Well here’s a really easy thing. Every time you see a 7-Eleven store, let it remind you about what you have just read.I’m not going to give you a bunch of statistics to remember. If there is one child who has been trafficked, it’s one too many. You’re valuable to us!You have the potential to share what ZOE is doing with an audience that we cannot reach – your friends, family, work colleagues, sports team, mothers' group, church, school and neighborhood.You can create awareness about the atrocities of human trafficking, child trafficking and modern day slavery.You can address these issues through your Facebook page, your blog, your local newspapers or any other link to mass media that you have.If you've been touched by the work going on at ZOE or if you've seen or read or heard or experienced something that affected you, then go on and share THIS with others.

1 comment:

I agree it all begins with the family. My children call the game "7-eleven" Bingo) But the meaning of this, of course, does not change) We sometimes travel with children, and then rent a car to avoid inconvenience with movement. But when I was with my wife in Chiang Mai, the children went to the summer camp "there are more friends there, and in general we have other plans for the summer" my daughters said) So we could finally get a little rest from the home routine, rent motorcycles in Cat Motors http://catmotors.net/our-motorbikes/, checking the recommendations for the selection of motorcycles before. And sure, having studied the features that distinguish driving in Thailand from other countries. This was our vacation, with visits to attractions, and enjoy for delicious Thai food.